There are all sorts of deserving charities in our borough, from large to tiny.

But few are as appealing in their simplicity as the understated Christopher Whitehouse Foundation.

Most people who have been around Island sports for any period of time know the story of the Whitehouse Foundation, which is a small group begun by Staten Island Sports Hall of Famer Pete Whitehouse, his wife, Pat, and his friends at the local Notre Dame Club, following the 1997 death of the Tottenville High School coach and teacher’s 29-year-old son, Christopher.

Chris Whitehouse was a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida, and a youth guidance counselor on the side, when he died one day while running. Bob Griswold recalls conversations among friends following that family tragedy that befell Pete and Pat Whitehouse.

“There was a lot of talk about what we could do in response to their loss,” said the West Brighton dentist and active Notre Dame Club member. “The idea of helping young people in some small way evolved naturally. Given who the Whitehouses are, it just made sense.”

The foundation isn’t trying to save the whales, end war, or stop global warming. It isn’t looking to raise millions of dollars, or find a cure for the common cold.

The mission isn’t some grand notion, at all. The Whitehouses leave that sort of thing for others.

“Pete and Pat believe in small ideas that can really make differences,” said Griswold.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

That is exactly what the Whitehouse Foundation has become, a minor idea making genuine change in lives.

The work done addresses the most commonplace of issues.

Like paying for a needy student’s college entrance application, or gifting a kid with a class yearbook she can’t afford, or buying a teenager a musical instrument, or a pair of shoes.

The idea at its core is to quietly keep teenage dreams alive; to lend a hand in the same way you might bring a meal to an elderly neighbor, or drive a sick friend to the doctor.

And it’s proven both simple and effective.

The very smallness of the work done is what has made it so attractive to the many Islanders who have become part of its core support group.

This is the way it works: An Island high school guidance counselor sees a need that is going unfulfilled, something that’s keeping a kid’s hopes on hold. It’s often something most other charities would deem too insignificant to even initiate a response.

The counselor contacts the Whitehouse Foundation.

What happens next?

The problem gets solved.

“The group sits down with requests, and tries to deal with each of them,” said foundation board member Jim Drury. “It’s a really humble undertaking.”

Humble, that is, until you receive thank-you notes from recipients that include this:

“We are in financial crisis and your grant helped us immensely ... it’s the kind of thing that gives hope to kids that really need help ... I will follow in the footsteps of (your) foundation by helping the less fortunate.”

That response is part of the bigger message mixed in among the seemingly modest good works.

The foundation signals to overwhelmed young people that they are not alone. That folks all around them, who they will likely never meet, have their back in some small way.

If you keep trying, the Whitehouse Foundation is saying, people will notice and they will help.

It’s the sort of undertaking that lifts the spirits of those involved. It also inspires those who are helped to think about reaching out to others in similar ways.

Above all, the group emulates and honors the work of the young man whose name it carries. That, of course, was the real goal right from the start.